His Work Was For You And Me

Over the past few weeks I’ve been substitute teaching each afternoon for a woman who’s out on maternity leave. I’ll finish out the school year as long as the kiddos don’t scare me off!

Wednesdays are still my hair day where I go to the nursing home and doll up salt and pepper colored hair, so I’m not at the school that day.

Interestingly the class I’m teaching is music class and my knowledge is slim but growing. I tell the kids I’m learning right along with them. It’s been fun. They’re fourth and fifth grade and easily humored, but can also be a handful some days.

If every day goes like this past Tuesday I’ll probably shed a few tears when it’s all said and done because I’ll miss it. I’ll miss teaching music. I’ll miss the kids.

I’d be lying if I said it’s been peaches and cream the whole time, there’s definitely been challenging days! And it’s on those days I have to take a deep breath and simply and quietly ask God for His help.

I came across Colossians 3:23 recently, which says, ‘Whatever you are doing, work at it with enthusiasm, as to the Lord and not for people’.

I’ve been keeping this verse close at heart. It’s reminding me that even on my most challenging days, my work needs to be for the Lord.

Some of these kids come from bad situations, a horrible home life, and when they show up to school a smile from a clueless, but fun Christian music teacher could be the only love of Jesus they witness…actually the beautiful thing is, this particular school has several Christian teachers. It’s a positive place for these kids to come to, but nevertheless attitudes happen.

On the contrary, and thankfully, working with enthusiasm for the Lord can happen anytime, anywhere, anyplace…in the worst of job conditions. When our hearts are right with Jesus it makes the task of hard work seem like it serves a purpose. But when we’re oblivious to Jesus’ desire for us to be right with Him, our work seems overwhelming and impossible at times.

I’ve heard of Jesus’ crucifixion as His ‘work on the cross.’

Work….

There’s that word again.

When we consider the crucifixion in this way, it causes us to consider the way Jesus handled work, which could easily be named the ‘hardest work ever’. In the time leading up to Jesus’ destination of the cross, we read how He kept in communion with His father through prayer (Matthew 26:36-39). He remained at His Father’swill (Matthew 26:42). And in verses 52-56 we read of Jesus’ humble and faithful attitude through His difficult last hours.

Three components we too can utilize when dealing with hard work:

Remain in prayer

Stay in God’s will

Be humble and faithful

Jesus didn’t finish His work while hanging on the cross though…three days later He rose from the grave victoriously (Matthew 28). Jesus’ work on the cross lead to the glorious resurrection and it paid for the debts of sin— for my sins, for my student’s sin, for your sin…It’s why we can celebrate Easter and it includes work through a right heart and attitude modeled by a Perfect Jesus.

Have a blessed Easter!❤️

Colossians 3:17- And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Romans 3:23- For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 5:8- God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 10:9- If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

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Author: alimw2013

About For His Purpose~
My name is Alicia and I'm a thirty-something year old who loves Jesus.
Only through God’s amazing grace and mercy I have been redeemed from past regret and shame. Reading His word has allowed me to look past Satan’s forceful lies, to see myself for who Christ says I am in Him.
Through writing I have learned why I made the choices I made in my younger years and I now have a better understanding of why I desire to love God like crazy these days.
Despite my daily failures, God remains faithful always. I am reassured of His unconditional love for me by every ink-drop spilled out on paper, each committed prayer as I cry out to Him, and deep understanding reflected through reading His word as truth.
Yes keeping a blog will make me vulnerable to others’ opinions- there will be some who don’t understand, some who may criticize or judge, but on the other hand if just one piece expressed through my writing grabs someone’s attention and directs them to God, then pouring out my heart in a blog for the world to read is worth it. I choose to glorify Him alone through words streaming across a glowing screen.
And it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t reveal the fact that I’m incredibly quirky; I’m my loving husband’s best friend, my vivacious kids’ craziest cheerleader and spiritual trainer (3 John 1:4). I love anything farmhouse and rustic style. I think cupping a warm coffee mug in the palm of my hands is more satisfying than the contents within. I share a common obsession with my husband for the mountains, but I would (without a doubt) settle for waves crashing against my legs at the Atlantic Ocean just as well, and I almost always have a Yorkie curled up on my lap while writing.
*All photos are photographed by forhispurpose.blog and therefore may not be stored or photocopied in any manner.
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21 thoughts on “His Work Was For You And Me”

Amen!!! So cool you are doing the teaching and that is really cool you go to the nursing homes to do their hair! My wife is a teacher at the charter school our kids attend. Our son is in 3rd and our daughter is in 5th. Loved the message you preached here! God bless!

As a former teacher of 40 years, I applaud your efforts to be a guest teacher of music to these 4th and 5th graders. Your three components for dealing with difficult and challenging situations resonates well with me. Thanks for sharing.

Colossians 3:17 is a verse we used when we homeschooled our girls, reminding them of the standard that was set and expected. Our saying became ‘mediocrity is not an option’. I most certainly need that reminder today 🙂 great post